MADPOD #155 Tommy Chong Interview
Interview arrangements courtesy of Jeff Abraham.
At their peak in the 1970s, Cheech and Chong represented the mainstream =
embodiment of the attitudes and lifestyles of the underground drug =
culture.� Much as W.C. Fields shot to fame by making =
alcohol the focus of his act, the duo of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong emerged from a cloud of pot smoke, simultaneously =
championing and lampooning the stoner community which became the team’s =
most ardent supporters; although derided by critics and dismissed by the =
general populace, the team’s stature as counterculture heroes was =
unquestioned, and for both aging hippies and dazed-and-confused teens, =
their comedy defined an era.=20
The team began to take shape in the late 1960s when, after entering =
show business as a guitarist in Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers,�Chong=
established City Works, a wild improvisational troupe later joined by Richard “Cheech” Marin.� When City Works dissolved, Cheech and =
Chong continued as a duo, formulating a musical comedy act.� The =
music proved short-lived, however, when audiences began reacting favorably =
to the team’s spacy pothead raps; after establishing their comic persona, =
the duo rarely deviated from the course =97 for record after record and =
film after film, they remained blissed-out stoners, their humor locked in =
the druggy stasis of the doper mentality.� Tommy Chong looks back on =
his career�with Shadoe Steele while on tour in Stamford Connecticut.
JADonnelly Host
Shadoe Steele Musicologist
